The Masks People Wear
by Sweet Sakura Curls
Summary: Albus Dumbledor is not who he seems, Strange things are happening to Harry Potter. Then, they both disapear. New Powers, New Pets, Not slash!
1. It Begins

The Masks People Wear  
Illustrious Sorrow  
  
Note: All right, I'm restarting this story. Hopefully it will be better. Enjoy.  
  
Chapter 1- It Begins  
  
In a small glade, an old man seemed to come out of a tree. The man looked weary, as if he had seen and done far too much in his life. His long bread was reaching down to the ground and it was dirty and tangled with leaves and twigs. The man stared at the bright overhanging moon and watched as a bird seemed to separate from the great planet. The shinning ethereal bird landed on the man's shoulder, seeming to be ready to listen to whatever woes he might have.  
  
"Ah, Trouble. I was wondering if you would come to say goodbye. I'm going now; I can sense a time far into the future when I will be needed to train one of my descendents. No rest for the wicked, right Trouble?" The old man made as though to pet the bird, but then seemed to think better of it.  
  
"Will you go to him?" The falcon chirped in a seemingly negative way. "Will you have somebody keep an eye on him? For me?" The bird chirped again, but now in agreement. "Thank you." He sighed, "It is time. I must go now, thank you for coming to see me." With that, the bird disappeared and the old man kneeled onto the ground, chanting. As he chanted, his voice rose until he was nearly shouting, at what was the end of the chant, he yelled a word, and in a blaze of light, was gone. ***************  
  
In a small bedroom in England a small boy sat up in bed gasping, wondering at the strange dream he had just had. He couldn't remember it clearly but he knew that it was important and that it involved Merlin. Sitting with his head in his hands, the boy wondered whether or not he should write Professor Dumbledore. He wasn't in pain, and this dream, though sad, had nothing to do with Voldemort.  
  
Getting off his bed, the boy crossed the room to the cage where his owl, Hedwig, was sleeping. "Hello girl, I'm sorry to wake you up but could you take a note to Professor Dumbledore for me?" The owl hooted softly, "Thank you, just let me write it." With that the boy sat down on the floor and dug around under a loose floorboard for some parchment and a quill. Upon finding it he began to write.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore, I just wanted to let you know that I had a strange dream. It was set in a grove of trees and an old man climbed out of one. Like he had been a part of the tree. He watched the moon for a while, and then a falcon flew down at him. I think it was a spirit. I don't remember what the man said, but he was very sad. I think that the man was Merlin! I have no idea why I dreamt this, so if this is just a random dream, sorry for wasting your time. If you know why I dreamt this, could you please explain it to me? Thank you,  
  
Harry Potter"  
  
Harry Potter. That was the name of the boy. He was not an ordinary boy, not by a long shot. He was a wizard, a famous wizard. Everybody in his world knew his name. He had after all, defeated Voldemort. Or that's what they believed. What really happened was that Harry gave them a reprieve. Time for them to prepare for Voldemort to come back to power. Unfortunately, they didn't use that time and now Voldemort was back, and haunting Harry's dreams with the boy he had killed, an innocent, a boy named Cedric Diggory.  
  
Every night Harry had nightmares about Cedric. Going over the scene in the graveyard, trying to find a way that he could have saved Cedric. Every night he had a vision of Voldemort, of the death and destruction he was causing now that he had returned to power, using Harry's own blood.  
  
After Harry had sent Hedwig off with the letter, he pulled a schoolbook out of the floor. He wished that his family, the Dursly's, would allow him to have his schoolbooks in his room but that was not the case. Luckily for him though, they were out of the house a lot, avoiding him. Ever since he had gotten back from Hogwarts they had been acting strangely, like they were afraid of him, though that was entirely possible as the last summer he was here, Dudley's tongue had grown four feet long.  
  
Harry had been at the Dursly's for a month and he had already finished his homework. There was nothing else for him to do. As a result, Harry decided to ask his Aunt Petunia if he could plant a garden. With a halfhearted sneer she had agreed. So Harry moved large rocks around the front of the yard to create a border and a stream/waterfall. Then he began to plant flowers.  
  
It was weird. In the 2 or so weeks since he had begun, the flowers were already starting to bloom. Harry didn't know much about flowers but he was pretty sure they weren't supposed to grow that fast. His garden was full of green and thriving plants. It was truly beautiful and Harry devoted most of his time to it. At one point he had decided to make a bench. He gathered all the wood he could find around the yard and got to work.  
  
By the time he was done the wood looked like it had just grown into a bench. At the same time it had little pictures in it of flowers and trees. They to looked like they had grown into the wood. Harry had no idea how they had gotten to look so good he just figured he had a new talent that he had never noticed. With a shrug he had placed it in the middle of the garden, and that was where he was now headed with his book.  
  
The sun was rising and it was just light enough to read. There was a slight breeze through the 80-degree air and it cooled Harry down as he settled onto the surprisingly comfortable bench. Harry was currently working on memorizing his textbooks when he wasn't working on his garden.  
  
Surprisingly it was all easy and interesting. No wonder Hermione always memorized her schoolbooks. He decided that when the school year started he would do a lot better in most of his classes if only because he knew all of the information. He was working on memorizing his potions textbooks. He wanted to be able to prove to Snape that he was a good student.  
  
Slowly the sun rose and Harry made his way through his textbook. By the time his aunt was up (9:00) he was already over halfway through the book. "Harry! Get in here now!" She yelled when she saw the boy reading in the garden. Harry's eyebrows rose in surprise. This was the first time they had spoken to him since he had gotten back other then to tell him not to get in their way.  
  
"Yes Aunt Petunia?" "I want you to paint the garage today." "Alright. Where is the paint? I'll start once Uncle Vernon leaves for work. That way it will be dry by the time he gets back." "Good. Then you can fix breakfast right now." With that she flounced out of the kitchen. Harry sighed and got out ingredients for breakfast.  
  
Dudley wasn't on his diet anymore so Harry made bacon, pancakes, and toast. Looking carefully around to make sure nobody was coming in; Harry quickly ate two pancakes and five strips of bacon. When that was done he brought the plates to the table. "Here you go Aunt Petunia." "Thank you." She said stiffly. Even this was enough to make Harry start with surprise. Nobody had ever said thank you in this house to him.  
  
Still puzzling this, he waited for Vernon to leave and then left the house to paint the garage. As he was painting he noticed a group of girls watching him and giggling. He looked at them puzzled, and then turned around and began to paint again. Then he bent over to get some more paint on the brush and then heard the girls giggling yet again.  
  
Finally he turned around, "Did you want something?" He demanded. Then one of the girls broke away from the herd and ran up to him. Startled, he stared at her as she stood in front of him, and then was even more startled as she grabbed him and kissed him. After a moment she released him with yet another giggle and then she and her friends ran off.  
  
Harry just stood on the driveway gaping in the direction the girls had run in until his Aunt Petunia yelled at him to keep working. All in all, it took him about 3 hours to paint the garage and when it was done Harry moved to sit in his garden with a relieved sigh. Suddenly an owl swooped down on him, dropping a letter and then soared off again.  
  
Suspiciously, Harry picked up the letter. When he saw that it was from Albus Dumbledore he ripped it open immediately.  
  
"Harry,  
  
Thank you for sending me your dream. You were right it is important. If you have any more please tell me. On your birthday you will be coming to Hogwarts for the remainder of the summer. If you have any questions please owl me and ask.  
  
Albus Dumbledore Headmaster of Hogwarts"  
  
"I wonder why my dream was important." Harry muttered to himself as he began to weed his garden with supreme care. That night when Harry got out of the shower he glanced in the mirror and was so surprised he almost fell over. He had finally grown a little, instead of being 5'1 he was at least 5'5 and he had gotten some muscle, probably from all the gardening he had done. Shaking his head in disbelief, Harry went back to his room and crawled into bed.  
  
Over the next few weeks he did chores around the house, memorized his schoolbooks until he would have made Hermione proud, and worked in his garden. Finally it was the night before his birthday.  
  
"Tomorrow I can leave this place for a whole year." Harry sighed as he climbed into bed to try and get some sleep. Harry hadn't been sleeping well all summer. His sleep was even yet filled with Voldemort and Cedric. Still, it was his birthday, maybe he would get some sleep.  
  
As Harry drifted into darkness, that hope was shattered. A gray fog surrounded him (a/n in the dream) and a voice began to speak. "Harry, Tonight you begin to receive your powers. Your destiny is calling you Harry, can you meet it?" And with that it faded away into another dream.  
  
{ Merlin was standing at the top of the cliff again. It looked like an different conversation then the one Harry had seen, perhaps it had occurred earlier, the man didn't look as old. The same bird was standing on his shoulder. "When my grandson comes here Trouble, he will not understand, do you have someone who will be his friend?" The falcon nodded. "Thank you. He will be coming into his powers and might be mad with me for not telling him whom I am. Ask your friend to take care of him."}  
  
Then the dream faded into grey again and the voice was back. "Learn to use your power, your destiny is coming, be ready." And with that Harry woke up. For a second Harry thought he had woken up because of the dream but then he realized that was not true. He could hear a group of people moving around downstairs.  
  
"Where is he?" "Master said upstairs." "I remember. Come on, let's get the boy and get out of here." With that the people moved to come up the stairs. Harry reached under his bed for his wand. Death Eaters were in his house!  
  
TO BE CONTINUED...  
  
Note: Hope you liked the first chapter. It is based on a challenge called "In the name of Merlin" By Phoenix tears type 6. I realize the first chapter was a little boring but I promise it'll get better next chapter. Review 


	2. Chapter 2

The Masks People Wear  
Illustrious Sorrow  
  
Disclaimer: I realize that I forgot to put a disclaimer on my first chapter. I totally forgot. Anyway, Harry Potter and Co. do not belong to me. They belong to J.K.Rowling and whoever is associated with the publishing, drawing, ect.  
  
Chapter 2-Fights and Arrival  
  
Harry stood against the wall with his wand ready to surprise the Death Eaters as they entered his room. Suddenly the door burst open and five death eaters streamed into his room.  
  
"Give up quietly and no one gets hurt Potter." One of the death eaters demanded loudly, sounding like something out of a cheesy fanfic.  
  
(a/n heheh, well, you know what I mean)  
  
"Sorry to disappoint you." Harry said and muttered a spell, "Stupify! Expellimarus! Tarantangular! Serpensorsa!"  
  
All were fired at the Death eaters though only two of them hit their targets. One death eater fell to the stunning spell and a large snake wrapped itself around another.  
  
Just as he was preparing to fire more spells, a spell hit him. "Crucio!" The death eater laughed with a malicious smile as Harry sank to the ground in pain and then started in surprise when Harry didn't start screaming with the pain he personally knew the curse caused.  
  
The other death eaters noticed this and added their curses to the original. Suddenly three Crudatious cruses were on Harry and yet he still wasn't screaming. The Death Eaters found this unnerving and began to add other curses to the three crucios. Harry's skin was beginning to split from the pressure of all the pain curses but he still didn't scream. Then another person joined the fray.  
  
Within seconds the Death Eaters were all stunned, not expecting another wizard to interfere. This wizard was Albus Dumbledore. "Harry, child, can you hear me?" "P-professor? Wh-what are you do-ing here?" "I detected Dark Activity in your house so I immediately apparated over here." Harry nodded and closed his eyes.  
  
"Harry, don't go to sleep." Albus said, his voice sounding slightly panicked, "Do you think you can stand?" "Y-yes s-s-sir." The older wizard doubted Harry really could stand, but was willing to give Harry a chance to try to stand himself. With a loud groan, Harry tried to pick himself off the floor, only to fall again after getting to his knees.  
  
"Child, let me help you." "No. I can do it myself." Even in this dire situation Albus had to smile, this boy had so much determination, much like his mother. This time Harry nearly stood before falling; Albus caught him and supported the boy's weight. He frowned, the boy was much to light and Albus could tell that was supporting Harry totally, why was he so light?  
  
Then he shook his head, this was not the time to be wondering about it. "Harry, I'm going to take you to the place you are going to be staying for the rest of the summer." "Hogwarts?" Asked Harry in a weary voice. "No." Said Albus, smiling sadly. This boy sounded so old, so tired. Like he had seen more then anyone should have. And he had.  
  
"You will have to trust me Harry." "I do sir." "Good, now I'm going to apparate us." Harry only nodded in return. And then they were gone.  
  
*******Five days later***  
  
"Severus, have you seen Albus?" Minerva McGonagall asked. "No." Was all she got in return. "Because I haven't seen him in days and he said he'd be back once he picked up Harry and brought him back here." "Maybe he's in his office." Offered Professor Sprout, the Herbology professor, but Minerva shook her head.  
  
"I've looked there, about five times a day for the past five days. It's like he disappeared." "Well, didn't you say he was going to pick up Mr. Potter? Why don't you go and check there?" Severus sneered. "I think I will. Thank you Severus." With that she stood up and began to walk out of the hall.  
  
"Wait Minerva, I'm going to come with you." Came Remus Lupin's voice from behind her. "Oh, thank you Remus. Come on then, let's get past the apparation fields." The two professors' did so and appeared with a pop at number 4 Private Drive. "This is his house?" "Yes."  
  
They walked up to the door and knocked loudly. After about a moment the door swung open to revel a large pink muggle boy. "Hello, is Mr. Potter here?" Minerva asked. This sentence had a strange effect on the boy. "N-n- no! He's not here! Mum! Those people are here again!" With that he ran off, hands clasped tightly to his bottom.  
  
Then a thin horse faced women walked into view of the astonished professors. "What are you people doing at my house?" She hissed so venomously that Remus took a step back. "We would like to talk to Mr. Potter if you please." "No I don't please." "That's to bad." Remus snapped and shoved past the women, surprising Minerva. Lupin was normally extremely patient.  
  
"Remus, what's wrong?" "I smell blood. Harry's blood." Minerva gasped, "Where?" "Upstairs." The two concerned professors ran up the stairs and flung open the door to Harry's room and stopped short in surprise. There were five death eaters sprawled out over the floor and blood dripping all over the wall across from them.  
  
"That blood. That blood is Harry's." Remus said shakily. "Remus, can you smell Albus?" Remus sniffed the air slightly. With his werewolf blood, he had some 'abnormal' traits, one of which was an enhanced sense of smell. "Yes. He was here. But the thing is, it is mingled with Harry's at some points, as if he were holding Harry up. The only other people in here were these five." He gestured at the fallen death eaters.  
  
(A/n Wow. The death eaters have been alive in Harry's room for five days and nobody noticed.)  
  
"That means that they must have left of their own free will, right Remus?" "Right. But where did they go?" To this Minerva could only shake her head sadly. "Ron and Hermione must be told." Remus said suddenly. "Mr. Weasly and Ms. Granger? Wh- Oh." Minerva cut herself off as she remembered the best friends of Harry Potter.  
  
"But what can we tell them? We don't know if he's alive or not." "We will tell them that Harry has disappeared and that they should keep the knowledge to themselves as long as possible." "Remus...Is it /possible/ that Harry...well, lived? There is a lot of blood here." "I think so, I think that when he left he was alive, but I can't be sure." Minerva left out a sob and began to collect the death eaters.  
  
"We have to bring them to the ministry, they can't just stay here." "You're right, let's get going." With that they gathered all the death eaters and left for the ministry.  
  
(A/n sorry if this scene seemed to fake but I'm not so good at how people will react to things like this, it's never come up in my life.)  
  
***********Harry****  
  
Albus labored over Harry's gaping wounds for the better part of five days. They were deep, caused by multiple Crudatious curses and other various pain and cutting curses. Harry didn't wake up for the entire time. Finally, Harry was totally healed though he would have several bad scars for the rest of his life. The worst of which, unfortunately, stretched from his right ear to the left side of his neck. It was very noticeable and he knew that Harry would hate it. Long clothing would cover the rest of the scars. There were five. One on his upper arm, Two on his right leg, and one tracing his ribs diagonally, and one more across his back.  
  
One the sixth day Harry began to wake up. Harry opened his eyes to see a blurred ceiling. An unfamiliar blurred ceiling. Panicking, Harry reached out his arms, searching for his glasses. Suddenly they were gently placed on his face but a blurred man with a long beard who, once Harry got his glasses on, turned out to be Albus Dumbledore.  
  
"Sir. Where am I and why am I here?" "Harry. What do you last remember?" "I had a really weird dream, it started with a grey fog and it was talking to me about my destiny and how it would be fulfilled and then it changed to Merlin again, and then it was back to the mist which then started talking about how my powers would begin to come."  
  
"Interesting, we'll talk more about your dream later. What do you remember next?" Harry frowned. "Uhhhm, oh! Death Eaters came to get me! I got my wand and stunned one of them and set a snake on another. Then they put me under three crudatious curses and then under multiple other pain curses. Then you came and stunned them. That's all. Where am I?"  
  
"You are in Merlin's Castle." "Oh. That's an....interesting name." "It's not a name Harry. This really is Merlin's castle." "But professor, Merlin's castle is just a myth...isn't it?" Albus smiled, "No it isn't, I'll explain later. How are you feeling?" "Fine." Harry answered automatically.  
  
Albus just raised his eyebrows, "Really?" "Yes." "Harry, I want the truth." Harry sighed, "I feel...sore." "Just sore?" "And dizzy." "The dizziness is from the cruses, as is the soreness. Both of which should be gone by tomorrow." Albus hesitated. "Harry, there is something you should know." "What sir?" Asked Harry.  
  
"When the curses were cast on you, your skin spilt open. You have six bad scars from it." Harry paled, "Where?" "Five are on your legs, arms, or stomach, but the last is over your face. It is very large." If it was possible, Harry paled even more. "May I look in a mirror?" Albus silently handed him one.  
  
Harry cautiously looked into the small mirror and cried out in shock at what he saw there. "Professor, everyone will notice that. People will want to know what happened, they'll stare at me more." The last part of that statement was delivered in a whisper. "I'm sorry Harry. It was the best I could do."  
  
This caught Harry's attention. "The best you could do? What happened to Madame Pomfery? Why am I here instead of at school?" "Harry, this is a lot to take in but Madame Pomfery doesn't exist yet. Nobody you know does." "Sir, what do you mean?" "I What I mean Harry, is that I have taken you into the past. To the time I was first born in." "Why?" "Because it is here you will train to use your new and coming powers."  
  
"What powers?" "The powers you get from being my grandson, along with being the heir to Gryffindore." "What? How? Why didn't you..." "Why didn't I tell you before?" "Well, yeah." "I didn't tell you before because I didn't want you to grow up in my shadow. I wanted to give you a chance to live a normal childhood. To be safe from our kind. I was going to tell you during your first year, but when I saw you I couldn't. I was afraid you'd be mad at me."  
  
This confession shocked Harry. Albus Dumbledore was scared of something. Not an evil wizard, no, of a fifteen-year-old boy. "Professor, I am not mad, only a little confused." "That is to be expected." "What did you mean when you said I was the heir to Gryffindor?" Harry asked, only now remembering that part of the conversation.  
  
"You get that from your father." "Does Voldemort know?" "He knows that you are the Heir to Gryffindor. That is why he tried to kill you and your family that night. Lily, your mother, was my daughter. I was forced to giver her up when her mother died giving birth. It was too risky for any child of mine. Nobody knows at Lily was mine expect for me and the doctor who delivered the baby."  
  
"Oh." That was really all Harry could think of to say, then, "What should I call you?" "I don't know. You could call me Grandfather if you would like, or if that makes you uncomfortable, you could call me Albus." "What would you prefer." "Well, you are my only grandchild...so I wouldn't mind if you called me Grandfather." "Alright then I will...Grandfather."  
  
Albus smiled, but then sobered up quickly. "I am afraid there is yet another thing I must tell you." "What's that?" "I am sorry for not telling you, but you must understand, nobody else knows. It was necessary to do this when I did it, as was keeping it a secret."  
  
Harry fidgeted, looking nervous. "You know how you have been having dreams about Merlin Harry?" Harry nodded. "The reason for that is because you have a blood connection with him. A strong one. In fact you have even met him." Harry looked at Albus suspiciously and Albus thrust ahead. "You see, Merlin is your Grandfather, Merlin is....Me."  
  
TO BE CONTINUED...  
  
Authors Note: Well, I didn't really change too much in this chapter, but yeah.Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. And Kasamaru, I know that I have a thing for scars. Leave me alone. Yup, that's it. The next chapter should be up soon.  
  
hphgrw0108- Thanks for reviewing, Glad you liked the first chapter so much. Hope you liked this one as well. momma-dar- Glad you liked the chapter, please, tell me what you think of this one. Jay- Yeah, I agree, the first chapter was boring, It will probably a bit slow for the first three chapters or so. Nelum- Glad you're so happy about it. Makes me fell all warm and fuzzy in side *Big Grin* hope you liked this chapter, I'll try not to disappoint you. Kasamaru- Glad you liked it, hope you like this one as well. 


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